Pubdate: Tue, 08 Feb 2005
Source: Mindanao Times (Philippines)
Copyright: 2005 Mindanao Times.
Contact:  http://www.mindanaotimes.com.ph/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2980
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Rodrigo+Duterte
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Davao+Death+Squad
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines

KILLINGS GOV'T SPONSORED? "SO BE IT!"
SAYS DUTERTE

Straight Talk

Visibly irked by insinuations from the media and sectoral groups  that
summary executions in the city are government-sponsored, Mayor Rodrigo
Duterte yesterday said, "so be it"

He said if he had to kill 200 criminals just to protect the 1,4
million people in Davao City from harm, he will do it.

"I don't give a s__t on what they would say about me, I don't give a
s__t about my image, If I stand alone in this belief so be it, If I
rise and fall because of this image it's okay," Duterte said.

The public should know how to discern why people get killed, he
added.

Copycat

Duterte said that not all killings in the city should be attributed to
the so-called Davao Death Squad, even if the  group  "does not exist
as far as city hall is concern".

He said people are already riding on the DDS issue as it has been
given media hype.

"The word there is mimicking, they are mimicking DDS," Duterte
said.

The mayor, however, admitted that guns for hire exists and dared
reporters to investigate whether the 50 persons who have fallen since
January 1, whose perpetrators were claimed by the media as DDS were
really killed by the vigilante group.

He said there are assassins out to kill criminals involved in drug
trafficking but he does not know these people.

IBP'S Request

The request of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines for President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to intercede in the killing rampage, does not
affect him at all.

Duterte, who was a former city fiscal, said he also condemned the
killing of lawyer Reuel Dalguntas, an IBP member in Davao del Norte.

Dalguntas and his nephew Garry Hopilena were ambushed in broad
daylight by unidentified assailants onboard a motorcycle on February 5
in Panacan.

"I am also a lawyer and I know how they feel," Duterte
said.

The IBP said the President should intervene because it appeared that
the local government and the police are helpless in solving these
killings perpetrated by a group whose members use motorcycles in
gunning down their victims.

Carlos Zarate, IBP Davao City president, asked for a speedy and
sincere investigation on all extra-judicial killings, demanding
concerned law enforcement officers to step down if they cannot solve
it.

" If the heads of our law enforcement offices cannot do it, then
delicadeza demands that they resign and let someone else do the job,"
Zarate said.

The mayor told the media to let the police answer all the questions
related to the killings as that is their job.

"It should be the police who should be doing the talking, not me,"
Duterte said. 
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